Lawmaker tries, again, to outlaw spanking in public schools

Lawmaker tries, again, to outlaw spanking in public schools



A lawmaker who wants to outlaw corporal punishment in Missouri public schools isn't giving up.
Sen. Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis, has once again filed legislation that would put an end to spanking or paddling as a way of disciplining public school students. It would also require districts to adopt updated discipline policies that adhere to the change.
"Times are changing and, as a state, we need to change with them. Thirty, forty years ago, corporal punishment was culturally accepted. Many viewed it as a deterrent," said Keaveny, in a news release. "But, modern studies, and first-person accounts from administrators and teachers alike, have debunked that belief. It's not an effective form of discipline."
Missouri is one of 19 states that still allows corporal punishment, according to the U.S. Department of Education, but there is no indication that its use in discipline is widespread. Springfield, and many other large districts, long ago abandoned the practice.
If Keaveny's Senate Bill 241 is ultimately approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Jay Nixon, it would end corporal punishment in public schools starting with the 2015-16 year but does not address such disciplinary options in private schools or families.
"Most parents are no longer comfortable with the idea of a non-family member — much less a public employee — administering this type of punishment," said Keaveny, in the release. "Children should feel safe at school, and shouldn't fear physical harm from those tasked with protecting and educating them."
A look at corporal punishment in the states that surround Missouri shows Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois have already banned spanking in public schools while it is permitted in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires each district to address corporal punishment in its written discipline policy. That gives local school boards the responsibility of determining if and how it will be used and whether a parent will be notified or can opt for an alternative form of discipline, Keaveny said.
Springfield's student handbook makes it clear that while corporal punishment is "not a discipline alternative," a staff member may use "physical force, including restraint, on a student when it is essential for the protection of the student, self or others, or the safeguarding of property under the control of the public school."
Keaveny said while Missouri is one of 19 states that still allow corporal punishment, it was ranked No. 9 on a list of states where it is currently used the most.
Last year, Keaveny sponsored similar legislation and there was a committee hearing on the bill when students and teachers testified in support of abolishing corporal punishment in schools. However, the bill failed to come up for a vote.
He pointed out there was no organized opposition to the legislation and no additional costs associated with the change.
Keaveny told the News-Leader that a group of students from a school in the St. Louis area conducted research and then approached him about sponsoring the legislation to end the practice in public schools. He said there was also strong support from teacher groups.
"There is absolutely no upside to paddling a child," he said.
The lawmaker is hopeful the legislation will be approved this year. "We ought to pass it," he said.
"It's a sad reality, but we now live in a world where we routinely have to discuss ways to protect our students from the types of violent atrocities that have taken place in this country over the last decade," he said, in the release. "As we work to make children feel safer at school from physical harm, I believe it's important we end a practice that many feel is no longer acceptable or even effective."

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